The invention is directed to a process for the granulation of glass melts by bringing the glass melt into contact with water and an apparatus for carrying out the process.
It is desirable to cool glass melts, particularly glaze frit melts, with water during the process of drawing off from the melt furnace or melt tank or the like so that there are collected directly after the granulating apparatus uniform glass granules in the size range between 0.5 and 5 mm and of the amount formed there are excluded those which are substantially larger or substantially smaller.
It is known to convey the melt slowly into water filled vats to granule glaze frit melts and to carry out the granulation process by this way. With sufficiently long conveyance time and with stirring of the granulated melt in the vats, glass melts can be granulated in this manner.
The disadvantage of this process is that with middle viscosity and viscous frits very different sized granules form, about 5 to 50 mm and greater.
The invention is based on the problem of finding a process and apparatus for the granulation of glass melts by bringing the glass melt into contact with water which results in a uniform granulate directly after the melt exits from the furnace in the flow without further subsequent commuinution.